Ruth Watson Lubic, CNM, EdD, FAAN, FACNM, (born January 18, 1927) is an American nurse-midwife and applied anthropologist who pioneered the role of nurse-midwives as

primary care Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care ...

providers for women, particularly in

maternity care Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many co ...

. Lubic is considered to be one of the leaders of the nurse-midwifery movement in the United States. Lubic holds an RN diploma (1955) from

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is the flagship hospital of Penn Medicine and is located in the University City section of West Philadelphia. It is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the United States. Histor ...

, a certificate in nurse-midwifery (1962) from the Maternity Center Association (MCA), and a BS in nursing (1959), MA in medical/surgical nursing (1961), and EdD in

Applied Anthropology Applied anthropology is the application of the methods and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems. In ''Applied Anthropology: Domains of Application'', Kedia and Van Willigen define the process as a "complex of ...

(1979) from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

. Lubic has also been awarded honorary doctorates from six universities. Lubic co-founded two legally sanctioned, freestanding birth centers in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

: the Childbearing Center (1975), which served middle-class families of Upper East Side Manhattan, and the Morris Heights Childbearing Center (1988), which served the lower-income families of the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was orig ...

. By focusing on providing safe and family-centered maternity care, education, and services, these birth centers served as effective alternatives to institutionalized obstetric care. In 1993, Lubic became the first nurse to receive the

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

, the “Genius Grant,” which included a $375,000 prize. Lubic utilized the $375,000 grant to found her third birth center, the Family Health and Birth Center in the collaborative of the Developing Families Center in Washington, D.C. (2000), where the

maternal ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestat ...

and

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

rates were the highest in the United States. The Family Health and Birth Center has had a significant impact in Washington, D.C., as demonstrated by the decreased rates of

cesarean sections Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or ...

preterm birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is betwee ...

s, and low birth weight newborns when compared to those of the city's. The center has also saved the city's health care system an estimated cost of over $1 million each year. Lubic has been widely recognized for her work as a nurse-midwife. She was the 1983 recipient of the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award from the

American College of Nurse-Midwives The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is a professional association in the United States, formed in 1955, that represents certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs). Dating back to 1929, ACNM is the leading example for ...

, the 2001 recipient of the Gustav O. Lienhard Award from the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

, and one of the 2001 Living Legend honorees from the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in ...

. She is currently Founder and President Emerita of the Developing Families Center and Founder of the Family Health and Birth Center.

Early life and education

Lubic was born in

Bristol, Pennsylvania Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorpora ...

to John Russell Watson and Lillian Watson (née Kraft) and raised as the second of two daughters. John was a third-generation pharmacist who owned and managed Watson's Drug Store alongside his wife, and Lubic spent much of her childhood there assisting with everyday duties and chores. Following the death of her father in 1942, and with her older sister in college, Lubic managed the drugstore full-time with her mother while completing her schooling. At age 25, Lubic began her education and training in a diploma nursing program in 1952 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was elected student body president. That same year, she was introduced to William Lubic, a

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...

graduate and New York lawyer, whom she later married in 1955. Shortly after her marriage, Lubic graduated with her RN diploma and was recognized as the recipient of the Letitia White Award for Highest Academic Average and the Florence Nightingale Medal for Excellence in Nursing Practice. Following her graduation, Lubic moved to New York and began working at the Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases (now the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) as a staff nurse and, later, as a head nurse until 1958. Lubic continued her education concurrently through courses at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

to work towards a bachelor's degree in nursing, which she pursued part-time for three years before resuming her education full-time at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University. She graduated with her bachelor's degree in nursing in 1959 and, after a short break during which she had her first child, Douglas Lubic, she received her master's degree in medical/surgical nursing in 1961 from TC.

Nurse-midwifery career

Lubic's entrance into the field of nurse-midwifery began in 1959 with the birth of her son and her unconventional (for the time) delivery experience, which she considered to be one of the most pivotal moments in her life. Her obstetrician, Edward Cullee Mann, permitted Lubic's husband to remain in the labor-delivery room for the duration of her labor and birth; Mann gave both Lubic and her husband time to bond with the newborn immediately after the delivery without any healthcare staff present. Mann later encouraged Lubic to pursue a career as a nurse-midwife through the midwifery training program at Maternity Center Association (MCA). Lubic completed her certificate in nurse-midwifery in 1962. After attaining her nurse-midwifery certificate, Lubic became a member of the

(ACNM), where she was a program committee member in 1962, the chair of local chapters in 1963, the vice president from 1964 to 1966, and the president-elect in 1969. Collaborating with the ACNM president and board, Lubic, her husband, and

Martin Ginsburg Martin David Ginsburg (June 10, 1932 – June 27, 2010) was an American lawyer who specialized in tax law and was the husband of American lawyer and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He taught law at Georgetown University Law Center ...

helped to establish the ACNM Foundation in 1967. In 1963, Lubic accepted a position with the MCA and worked as a parent educator and counselor until 1967. Influenced by her student experience working with lower-income Latino and African-American families, Lubic began working on her Doctor of Education degree in applied anthropology in 1967 at TC. This decision was also influenced by Lubic's friend,

Lambros Comitas Lambros Comitas (September 29, 1927 – March 5, 2020) was Gardner Cowles Professor of Anthropology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. A product of Columbia University, he received the A.B. from Columbia College in 1948 after ...

, an anthropologist at TC who emphasized to Lubic the importance of understanding how culture affected health and healthcare decision-making. Lubic completed her doctoral studies in 1970. Her dissertation, “Barriers and Conflict in Maternity Care Innovation,” was completed in 1979. Another pivotal moment in Lubic's life and career began with her appointment as the General Director of the MCA in 1970, a position she would hold for 25 years until 1995. As General Director, Lubic championed for the provision of an alternative to the institutionalized, medical model of birth that was prevalent during the time. Lubic believed that more autonomous, family-centered maternity care and services provided by nurse-midwives could better meet the needs of low-risk expectant individuals and their families. Lubic advocated for the role of nurse-midwives as providers of

prenatal care Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care, is a type of preventive healthcare. It is provided in the form of medical checkups, consisting of recommendations on managing a healthy lifestyle and the provision of medical information such as materna ...

, birth, and

postpartum care Postpartum care or postnatal care is a service provided to individuals in the postpartum period, to help with postpartum recuperation and restoration. Traditional postpartum care Many traditional forms of postpartum confinement exist throughout ...

and believed that freestanding birth centers served as a safe, comprehensive, and less costly option to both hospital births and

home birth A home birth is a birth that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birthing center. They may be attended by a midwife, or lay attendant with experience in managing home births. Home birth was, until the advent of modern medic ...

s. The need to address and provide alternatives to institutionalized obstetric care also came during a time when the intersection of different sociocultural and sociopolitical movements of the 1970s, like the feminist and the women's health movements, greatly influenced perceptions of the medical model of health care. There was a general mistrust in physicians and hospital institutions and substantial criticism of and dissatisfaction with the lack of individualized and personalized care with hospital births. In 1971, Lubic worked with the MCA, nurse-midwife Kitty Ernst, and obstetrician John Franklin to establish Booth Maternity Center in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, which was previously known as the Booth Maternity Hospital. Booth Maternity Hospital was originally founded in 1962 and operated by

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

. Lubic continued her collaboration with the MCA and Ernst to create refresher-course, nurse-midwifery programs at Booth, the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

, and the

SUNY Downstate Medical Center SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate) is a public medical school and hospital in Brooklyn, New York. It is the southernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and the only academic medical center for hea ...

. Lubic's prominent role and work in the field of nurse-midwifery resulted in her election to the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

of the National Academy of Sciences as a member of the first class in 1971. In 1973, she was invited to join the first United States medical delegation to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 1973. She was the only woman and the only nurse in the delegation team. Under the direction of Lubic and the MCA Board of Directors, the Childbearing Center (CbC) was established in 1975, becoming the first of the MCA's freestanding birth centers offering maternity care led by nurse-midwives. The center offered comprehensive and safe maternity care which included prenatal care and education, comfortable birthing rooms and spaces for laboring individuals, low medical intervention birthing practices, postnatal and infant care education, postpartum care, follow-up postpartum home visits, and policies that permitted the attendance of any support person for the laboring individual to ensure an emotionally and socially supportive birthing experience. The CbC was staffed with a multidisciplinary care team consisting of part-time obstetricians, part-time pediatricians, and full-time nurse-midwives; however, the majority of the care was provided primarily by nurse-midwives who were present on the staff at a ratio of 3 nurse-midwives to every 1 physician. The center faced significant challenges after its establishment due to opposition from the medical community and difficulty acquiring Blue Cross and

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

reimbursements. Lubic herself became a central recipient of personal and professional criticism due to her advocacy for nurse-midwife-managed birth centers. Despite the challenges and controversy that accompanied the opening of the CbC, increasing support for freestanding birth centers nationwide coincided with a 1981

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction o ...

report which determined that the CbC was safely and effectively providing maternity care for low-risk expectant individuals. In 1983, Lubic collaborated again with Ernst to found the National Association of Childbearing Centers, previously the Cooperative Birth Center Network and now known as the American Association of Birth Centers. It provides operating information and certification programs for birth centers. Because the CbC served primarily middle-class and some upper-class white families in Upper East Side Manhattan, Lubic aimed to bring the same model of more autonomous, low-cost, family-centered maternity care to low-income, marginalized communities. Lubic learned that providing safe and effective maternity care to low-income communities could help empower these families by providing the resources and access to services that would allow pregnant individuals to have greater agency in their health and maternity care. In 1988, in collaboration with the Morris Heights Health Center, Lubic and the MCA established the second MCA freestanding birth center, the Childbearing Center of Morris Heights in South Bronx. This center primarily served low-income, African-American and Puerto Rican families of the South Bronx, where the infant mortality rates were the second highest in the United States. To empower these families, Lubic advocated for the center to permit expectant individuals to have direct access to their patient charts and encouraged them to check their blood pressure and weight, test their urine for prenatal lab tests, and document the information/data in their own charts. In 1993, Lubic was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant,” which included a $375,000 prize to be disbursed as a $75,000 annual stipend over a period of five years. Lubic utilized the grant to start and fund work on her third freestanding birth center in 1994. To better commit to this project, Lubic left her position as MCA General Director in 1995. During this time, CbC stopped operations and closed down while the CbC of Morris Heights continued to provide services to families as the Women's Health and Birthing Pavilion and, now, as the Women's Health Pavilion (the birthing center is no longer operating). Lubic moved to Washington, D.C., in 1994 to begin her work in Ward 5, where the maternal and infant mortality rates were the highest in the United States. To address these health disparities through a family-centered care model, Lubic founded her third birth center, the Family Health and Birth Center (FHBC), as part of the Developing Families Center (DFC) to provide care and resources to empower low-income families and promote community well-being. The DFC was established in 2000 as an “umbrella” organization with three non-profit partner organizations, the FHBC, the Healthy Babies Project, and the Nation's Capital Child and Family Development. The DFC offered a variety of comprehensive services and resources to provide access to primary care, maternity and newborn care,

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or adminis ...

childcare Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

, and

early childhood development Early childhood development is the period of rapid physical, psychological and social growth and change that begins before birth and extends into early childhood. While early childhood is not well defined, one source asserts that the early years b ...

services. As a result of the DFC's work in Washington, D.C., birth outcomes have improved and the rates for preterm births, low birth weight newborns, and cesarean sections have decreased when compared to respective rates in D.C. The cost-effective services provided at the DFC has also contributed to a savings of $1,153,051 annually for the healthcare system. Since 2010, the FHBC has operated as the Community of Hope Family Health and Birth Center and continues to provide nurse-midwife-led maternity care, well-woman care, and primary care as well as social services and early childhood development services, which were previously provided by the Healthy Babies Project and the Nation's Capital Child and Family Development and are now offered by the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center. Lubic currently serves as founder and president emerita of the Developing Families Center and Founder of the Family Health and Birth Center. Lubic's papers can be found at the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing.

Awards and recognition

* 1955: Letitia White Award for Highest Academic Average, School of Nursing at the

* 1955: Florence Nightingale Medal for Excellence in Nursing Practice, School of Nursing at the

* 1959: Election to

Pi Lambda Theta Pi Lambda Theta (ΠΛΘ) is one of three main education honor societies and professional associations for educators in the United States. Basic information Pi Lambda Theta is both an honor society and professional association for educators. As ...

, Academic Honor Society * 1971: Elected Member, Institute of Medicine,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

* 1978: Election to Sigma Theta Tau, National Honor Society of Nursing * 1978, Fellow,

* 1980:

Nursing Hall of Fame Inductee and TC Achievement Award for Nursing Practice * 1981: Jane Delano Distinguished Service Award, New York Counties Registered Nurses Association * 1981: Rockefeller Public Service Award, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

* 1982: Fellow,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

* 1983: Hattie Hemschemeyer Award,

* 1985: Doctor of Laws ''Honoris Causa'',

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

* 1986: Doctor of Science ''Honoris Causa'',

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...

* 1987: Fellow,

Society for Applied Anthropology The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) is a worldwide organization for the Applied Social Sciences, established "to promote the integration of anthropological perspectives and methods in solving human problems throughout the world; to advocate ...

* 1989: R. Louise McManus Award, Nursing Education Alumni Association of

* 1991: Visiting Fellow,

King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women (KEMH) is a hospital located in Subiaco, Western Australia. It is Western Australia's largest maternity hospital and only referral centre for complex pregnancies. It provides pregnancy and neonatal car ...

, Perth, Australia * 1991: Kate Hanna Harvey Visiting Professor, France Payne Bolton School of Nursing,

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

* 1992:

Teachers College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

Distinguished Alumni Award * 1992: Doctor of Humane Letters, ''Honoris Causa'',

The College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline O ...

* 1993: Doctor of Science, ''Honoris Causa'', SUNY Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn * 1993: Fellow, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation * 1994: Doctor of Humane Letters, ''Honoris Causa'',

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...

* 1994: Honorary Recognition Award,

American Nurses Association The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is b ...

* 1994: Lillian D. Wald Spirit of Nursing Award,

Visiting Nurse Service of New York Founded in 1893 by nursing pioneer Lillian D. Wald and Mary M. Brewster, VNS Health is one of the largest not-for-profit home- and community-based health care organizations in the United States, serving the five boroughs of New York City; Nassau ...

* 1994-1995: Consultant, Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions Health Resources and Services Administration,

Public Health Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

* 1995-1997: Expert Consultant,

Office of Public Health and Science The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) is an operating agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the managing personnel body for the United States Public Health Service. The office is under the direct ...

* 1996: Sigma Theta Tau Pace Setter * 1997: MCA Award, Maternity Center Association * 1999: Women of Distinction Award, National Association for Advancing Women in Higher Education * 1999: Irving Harris Visiting Scholar, College of Nursing,

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

* 2001: Gustav O. Lienhard Award,

* 2001: Special Recognition Award, Alumni Society of the School of Nursing of the

* 2001: Election to Honorary Membership, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society * 2001: Designation as a Living Legend,

* 2003: Lillian D. Wald Award,

* 2004: Centennial Medal,

100th Anniversary Dinner Dance * 2004: Hugh P. Davis Lectureship,

Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing is the nursing school of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The school awards the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Nursing (MN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Pra ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

* 2005: Jamie E. Bolane Award for Lifetime Achievement, NACC Foundation (National Association of Childbearing Centers, now the American Association of Birth Centers) * 2006: Martha May Eliot Award, American Public Health Association * 2007: Invited Speaker House of Representatives Hearing on Infant Mortality * 2008: Visionary Award,

Morris Heights Health Center Morris Heights Health Center (MHHC) is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides primary care, specialty services, dental and behavioral health services in the Bronx, New York City. MHHC operates across 30 sites including 19 school based s ...

* 2008: Chapter I Honorary Lifetime Chapter Membership,

* 2008: LEAP Award,

* 2009: Doctor of Science, ''Honoris Causa'', University of Massachusetts College of Medicine at Worcester * 2009: Irving Harris Visiting Professor, Department of Women, Children and Family Health Sciences, School of Nursing,

* 2009: Edna L. Fritz Lecturer, College of Nursing,

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...

* 2010: Foremother Lifetime Achievement Award, National Center for Health Research * 2010: Senior Midwives Award, UNFPA (

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...

) Symposium on Strengthening Midwifery * 2011: Honorary Doctorate, Frontier Nursing University * 2018: Urban Health Equity Champion,

New York Academy of Medicine The New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy) is a health policy and advocacy organization founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health ...

Selected publications

* Lubic, R.W. (1962). Nursing care after adrenalectomy or hypophysectomy. ''The American Journal of Nursing, 62''(4), 84–86. * Lubic, R.W. (1969). The Puerto Rican family. ''The Journal of Nurse-Midwifery & Women’s Health, 14''(4), 104–110. * Lubic, R.W. (1972). The nurse-midwife joins the obstetrical team. ''Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 17''(3), 73–77. * Lubic, R.W. (1972). What the lay person expects of maternity care: Are we meeting these expectations? ''Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 1''(1), 25–31. * Lubic, R.W. (1974). If elitism is the answer, what is the question?. ''The Journal of Nurse-Midwifery & Women’s Health, 19''(2), 9–11. * Lubic, R.W. (1974). Myths about Nurse-Midwifery. ''The American Journal of Nursing, 74''(2), 268–269. * Lubic, R.W. (1974). Statement of Maternity Center Association before the House Committee on Ways and Means. ''The Journal of Nurse-Midwifery & Women’s Health, 19''(3), 11–16. * Lubic, R.W. (1975). Developing maternity services women will trust. ''The'' ''American Journal of Nursing'', 75(10), 1685–1688. * Lubic, R.W. (1976). Alternative patterns of nurse-midwifery care: I. The childbearing center. ''Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, 21''(3), 24–25. * Lubic, R.W., & Ernst, E.K. (1978). The childbearing center: an alternative to conventional care. ''Nursing Outlook, 26''(12), 754–760. * Lubic, R.W. (1979). ''Barriers and conflict in maternity care innovation''. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International. * Faison, J.B., Pisani, B.J., Douglas, R.G., Cranch, G.S., Lubic, R.W. (1979). The childbearing center: An alternative birth setting. ''Obstetrics and Gynecology'', 54(4), 527–532. * Lubic, R.W. (1979). The impact of technology on health care—The Childbearing Center: A case for technology's appropriate use. ''Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 24''(1), 6–10. * Bennetts, A.B., & Lubic, R.W. (1982). The free-standing birth centre. ''The Lancet'', 319(8268), 378–380. * Lubic, R.W. (1982). Nurse-midwifery education—The second 50 years. ''Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 27''(5), 4–9. * Lubic, R.W. (1983). Childbirthing centers: delivering more for less. ''The American Journal of Nursing, 83''(7), 1053–1056. * Lubic, R.W. (1985). ''Reimbursement for nursing practice: Lessons learned, experiences shared. Nursing & Health Care'', 6(1), 22–25. * Lubic. R.W. (1986). The proposed New York state legislation on midwifery. ''Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health'', 31(3), 150–152. * Lubic, R.W., & Hawes, G.R. (1987). ''Childbearing: A book of choices.'' New York: McGraw-Hill. * Lubic. R.W. (1988). Insights from life in the trenches. ''Nursing Outlook, 36''(2), 62–65. * Lubic. R. W. (1989). The midwife as an agent of change. ''Australian College of Midwives Incorporated Journal, 2''(2), 6–7. * Lubic, R.W. (1990). The alternative or the norm for the future?. ''Women and Birth, 3''(2), 6–14. * Lubic, R.W. (1997). Drive-by deliveries: A missed opportunity. ''Public Health Reports, 112''(4), 284–287. * Lubic, R.W. (1997). Principles for a successful professional life. ''Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health'', 42(1), 53–58. * Lubic, R.W., & Flynn, C. (2010). The family health and birth center—A nurse-midwife-managed center in Washington, DC. ''Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine'', 16(5), 58–60.

References

External links

Founding Mother's Archives

Ruth Lubic archive
Disruptive Women in Health Care
"Go to Ruth's House": the social activism of Ruth Lubic and the family health and birth center.
''Nurs Hist Rev.'', Fairman J. 2010;18:118-29.

Reminiscences of Ruth Watson Lubic (2014), Columbia Center for Oral History Archives in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University in the City of New York {{DEFAULTSORT:Lubic, Ruth 1927 births American midwives Members of the National Academy of Medicine MacArthur Fellows Living people Advanced practice registered nurses University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing alumni Florence Nightingale Medal recipients